Travelling in Europe: Tips and Tricks

Hello everyone!

For those of you that don't know, we are now back stateside! It is so odd to be back home. Jessie and I have changed and grown so much, and yet everything seems to be the same.

Jessie and I have compiled a list of little tips that we learned during our travels through Europe. This list contains tricks we wish we had known before getting started, and other little hints that will help your trip go smoothly. These tips should be valid anywhere in Europe; if you want specific advice for any of the places we visited (Glasgow, Edinburgh, the Highlands, London, the Lake District, Naples, Rome, Venice, Munich, Berlin, Vienna, Prague, Krakow, or Oswiecim), just let us know. For example, we know some insider tips to getting the best food in Italy, particularly in Rome and Venice. Send us an email or a message on facebook, and we'll get back to you as quick as we can.

Anyway, without further ado, here you go. Our advice for any aspiring European travellers:

1. Plan ahead.

This tip is mostly for budget travelers. You can save an enormous amount of money by buying transportation and accommodation in advance. For example, a bus ride from Glasgow to Edinburgh, bought at the station the day of the trip, might run approximately 20 pounds, or 30 dollars, per person. Bought a month in advance, however, and those same tickets might cost 2 pounds, or 3 dollars, a piece. These are actual prices that we paid.

If you have a bunch of money to burn, then obviously this isn't as important to follow. You can be spontaneous and adventurous, staying longer in the places you like and shorter in the places you don't, but it will cost you quite a bit extra. You can't couchsurf for free without making arrangements several weeks, if not months, in advance.

2. Plan thoroughly.

Following from the last point, it is important that you do a fair amount of research when planning your transport, as well as the various excursions you are interested in. For example, make sure when booking transportation in advance that you are looking at the proper season schedule. We missed a ferry from Oban to Mull in Scotland because we had been looking at the winter schedule when we were planning, while the service was operating on the summer schedule by the time we were actually ready to travel. We had to stand in line for 3 hours to see the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam because we failed to book our tickets months in advance, and we didn't give ourselves enough time to arrive early enough to beat the crowd.

Along the same lines, don't always trust google maps for public transport information. Find specific local company websites and search for services there to ensure you're not missing something or seeing a service that isn't there anymore.

3. Avoid restaurant callers.

This isn't a common practice in America. In Europe, tourist restaurants will often have a caller, usually a nice-dressed and good-looking guy, outside the restaurant to draw in passers-by. This is a sure sign that the restaurant is NOT authentic. The locals will usually see callers as a sign that the restaurant is not serving good food, but rather very poor, stereo-typical food.

4. Avoid street peddlers.

As a general rule, if you want something, buy it in a store, not off the street. If the seller is willing to bargain with you, chances are very good the item wasn't worth the original asking price in the first place. Go back and read our story from Rome, "Pilgrims meeting the Vicar of Christ," for another excellent example.

5. It's never cheaper to skip the line.

And don't trust the people telling you that it is cheaper, even if they have an official-looking badge. They will just take you to their tourist office across the street, and proceed to waste 15 minutes of your time trying to force you to buy their tickets to the Vatican Museum, even offering you the special discounted child pricing, which they claim is cheaper than the tickets at the ticket office. In reality, two student tickets at the ticket office were cheaper than a single child's ticket from the tourist office.

6. Hit up McDonald's for free bathrooms.

McDonald's hasn't only taken over America. They are everywhere in Europe, and they will almost always have restrooms easily accessible. Sometimes you'll have to get special restroom tokens from the cashiers, but you won't need to buy anything from the menu to do so. This is important, because public restrooms in Europe almost always cost money, from 20 cents all the way up to 1.50 Euro.

7. Hotels and Tourist Information Centers have free maps.

Free is good! Hotels are very friendly places that keep free maps on hand for their guests. If you are having trouble finding the Tourist Information Center, or if said center is non-existent, find a hotel before buying a map from the newspaper stand. The map won't be high-quality, but will usually be good enough to get you around.

8. Look for free walking tours.

Free walking tours are almost everywhere in Europe, and they were a favorite of mine and Jessie's. Take a free walking tour the first day you're there to learn the history, the culture, and the popular attractions in the area. We recommend Sandemans' Free Europe Walking Tours, if you're in one of their serviced cities. If not, there are plenty of other free tour companies and organizations out there, you just have to do a little googling to find them.

9. Invest in cell service.

A cell phone would have come in handy too many times to count while we were in Europe. We had a pay-as-you-go phone in Scotland, which we hardly used. But we never got a sim for all of Europe, and that would have made the trip go so much smoother. Having the ability to call your accommodations, as well as the possibility of mobile wifi in case you're too dense or tired to decipher the map, can be invaluable. It is hard to find good public wifi, which is rarely free.

10. Remember to pack the little things.

Comfortable walking shoes are a must, obviously, but other small things that we recommend are:  sunglasses, a big backpacking backpack (this would have been enormously easier than lugging around our small suitcases), pain medication such as advil for soreness, and allergy medication if you are prone (I learned that one the hard way).

11. Never give up.

Seriously. This rule is so important. Even when you're tired, you're cranky, you're angry, you're depressed, you're defeated, never, ever give up. Just keep walking. Just keep going. Just keep trying. Travelling through Europe can be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, so don't risk wasting it. Have fun, be respectful of the locals, and never give up.

Thanks for reading! Hope this helps! Again, if you have any questions, or would like more specific information about traveling in any of the places we've visited, don't hesitate to ask! Comment on this blog post, or send us emails or facebook messages. We'll be more than happy to help in any way we can. The world is an amazing place, and it is such a powerful experience to be able to see it. Good luck to you all, and God bless!

~Jacob and Jessie Wilkerson

The End, Almost - Krakow, Oswiecim, and Berlin

Guten tag,

Since Jessie was too tired to delve into Poland stories last time, it is my pleasure to do so now.

We took an overnight train from Praha to Krakow. As we were planning on visiting the Auschwitz concentration camp the next day, we had decided to spend that night in Oswiecim, a smallish town to the west of Krakow. But that day we took a free walking tour through Poland's capital city during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance (it was moved to Warsaw after the king burned down half the castle while practicing alchemy in his room). As usual we learned a lot about local history and culture, which Jessie and I greatly enjoy.

We also learned the story of the Krakow dragon, which lived in a cave underneath the castle one thousand years ago. The dragon of course terrorized the countryside and ate children and all that good dragon-y stuff. The King at the time offered the hand of his daughter in marriage to any knight that could slay the beast. Knight after knight tried and failed to kill the dragon, until a humble shoemaker came along. Instead of fighting the dragon, he bundled up into the shape of a person: gunpowder, glass, spice, rocks, and generally anything that would be uncomfortable to eat. This person-bundle he placed outside the dragon's lair. The dragon later saw the the bundle, and being the greedy monster it was, ate it. But it was an awful surprise to him, the gunpowder and spice being enough to make the dragon spew fire from its mouth. So the dragon ran to the river, just a few meters away, and began to guzzle down water. It drank and drank and drank, and was apparently a very stupid dragon, because it drank until it exploded. So the kingdom was saved, but when the king offered the princess to the shoemaker, he kindly declined the offer. Whether the story is true or not, we did get a small stuffed dragon named Krakow (pronounced KRACK-off, because the "w" sounds like /f/ in Polish), which will be given to our baby later on. =)

Krakow, the Dragon

The Polish people really love St. John Paul II (of course)

Odd Head Statue (sometimes inhabited by drunks at night)

The Magnificent St. Mary's Basilica

Jessie in front of the Krakow Dragon, which blows fire every five minutes

The section of the castle courtyard which had been burned down by the King's experiments

We had some struggles to get to our accommodation in Oswiecim, where we were couchsurfing for the third and final time. Our host generously offered to pick us up at the bus station since he actually lived about 8 km. south of Oswiecim in Brzeszcze (difficult to describe the pronunciation in English, but is reminiscent of BRUH-sheh [roll that Polish 'r']). We came into the wrong station, though, and still didn't have a phone to contact him. Luckily, he was a very patient guy and we eventually made it to his place after an hour or so of waiting for one another at different stations. He took us out for pizza at a local place in his town (even smaller than Oswiecim), which was really good and was topped with real Polish Kielbasa. He also introduced me to an amazingly good dark Polish beer. He was such a great guy that the next day he drove us back into Oswiecim to the Auschwitz camp and museum on his day off. He sent us away with another beer to try too. Just a really fun and positive couchsurfing experience with a kind and generous guy.

Auschwitz the next day was not so positive, but very powerful. It was the culmination of the WWII theme that seemed to be running through our Europe thus far. It is really hard to think about, talk about, and imagine the things that happened there. Over six million people, mostly Jewish, were killed under the Nazi regime. It gets particularly hard when you read about and realize the children that suffered there through experimentation and the other horrors of the camp. And children rarely had the chance to leave any record of themselves or their lives behind in the way many of the older prisoners did, especially when the rest of their family was taken away and killed. They had their entire lives before them, but they could leave no legacy or memory behind them. It is just an experience that I would recommend to anyone who has the chance. Those who don't study history are doomed to repeat it, as they say, and we really can't afford to repeat that episode of history again. And yet we seem to be doing just that in America today, turning our backs on an entire segment of society and murdering thousands each day. Since Roe v. Wade, nearly sixty million unborn persons have been killed. Just something to think about. What is the difference between these babies, with no legacy and their entire future lives taken away, and those children of the Holocaust, who were ruthlessly killed? Where do we draw the line when it comes to discrimination and hatred?

We wanted to end our depressing visit to Auschwitz by going back to Krakow to visit Schindler's Factory, remembering this great man who saved so very many lives from the gas chambers. Unfortunately, the museum was closed due to holiday, and so instead we decided to go on another free tour, and eat some authentic Polish pierogies for dinner.

Arbeit Macht Frei - Work Will Make You Free

One Half of the Book of the Dead
(an entire page dedicated to those with the name Kozak, a family name from my mom's side)

Jessie all healthy with her salad

Pierogies - Cabbage/Mushroom, Pork, and Potatoes/Cheese

We didn't do much in Berlin, but I'll touch on it here. We of course found another free tour, and then spent the rest of our time in museums. We learned about Berlin's part in WWII, as well as the post-WWII division of Berlin with the Berlin Wall between the Soviet Communists in East Berlin, and the American, French, and British Capitalists in West Berlin. Berlin has an amazing Jewish museum, very intricate, thoughtful, and poetic even in the architecture itself. We visited the Anti-Kriegs, or Anti-War, museum, and met with the founder's grandson to learn about the real human consequences of war, as experienced in WWI and WWII. I could tell you more about Berlin, as we stayed there for three days, but it is getting late here, so I'll just share some more pictures of the experience.

Remnants of the Berlin Wall

Humboldt University, on Bebelplatz, where the Berlin Book Burnings took place during WWII

Berliner Currywurst

Sculpture "Fallen Leaves" in the Berlin Jewish Museum

Fascinating - you know it's art when it makes you think

The Nikolaikirche

Well, we are now back in London with the Oteros. We've just got a bit more traveling through the UK left, and then we'll be heading back home to Colorado. The blog isn't finished just yet, though. We'll be making a post later in which we list some of our best general tips for traveling throughout Europe. We do have alot of specific tips for specific places, such as how to get good and authentic food in Italy, but we can answer those questions personally to anyone interested. After that, we're planning on each writing a reflection post on this experience. So stay tuned - you're not rid of us yet.

Once again from the UK, this is Jacob, signing off. Thanks for reading, and God bless.

Cheers,
~Jacob and Jessie

Prague

So we are on the final leg of our journey. Tomorrow we leave the mainland of Europe and end our "Jessie and Jacob traveling alone" time to meet my family in London. It is a little bittersweet. We have missed you all back home and are ready to settle into a routine of work and study again, but it is hard to end our carefree and celebratory journey all the same. But it is not over yet, and you all haven't heard the stories from the last three places we've visited. I've got some story telling to do.

The past week or so has been a whirlwind of quick stops. After leaving Vienna we arrived in Prague. We had originally wanted to travel straight to Poland (way back when we were buying train tickets and setting up accommodation and whatnot), but it was really hard and expensive to find a train or bus that went from Austria to Poland because they had to travel all the way through the Czech Republic and most transport wanted to stop somewhere in the Czech Republic instead. So we decided Prague might be a nice place to spend a day or two. 

We were not disappointed. It is really a beautiful city with quite a bit of interesting history. The architecture is very old and ornate. The city was only bombed once during WWII. It was an accident that occurred when a fleet of airplanes got lost on their way to bomb Dresden and ended up just dropping a strip of bombs into Prague instead. Luckily though, nothing was destroyed. Because of this luck many old masterpieces of architecture have survived from the time they were built, unlike in Germany and Austria where many things had to be rebuilt. 

The Czech Republic also has a very interesting political history and has disappeared from the European map more than once in its history. It used to be part of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire before WWI. Between the two wars it was Czechoslovakia. Part of Czechoslovakia was given to Germany as part of the Munich Agreement before WWII in an attempt to avoid war. But of course war happened anyway and Czechoslovakia again disappeared to become part of the German Empire. After WWII, it became part of the Soviet Union. When the Soviet Union dissolved it became Czechoslovakia again before the Czechs and Slovaks decided that they couldn't live together anymore and thus the Czech Republic was born. (Forgive me if this is not accurate, I'm going off information that I can remember from the walking tour we took in Prague). The poor Czech Republic, they really couldn't get a break. They were pretty much held hostage during two wars, experience fascism followed directly by communism, then civil unrest before it finally stabilized. But it has now been one place for over 20 years which has been a record since the beginning of the 20th century.

How about some pictures from Prague?

Living the high life (actually only worth about 8 US dollars, but we felt rich every time we went to the ATM)

Charles Bridge 

A cool street band with awesome curly toed shoes and a rockin' set of bag pipes.

Astronomical clock that according to the tour guide in Munich was the #1 most overrated tourist attraction, but according to the tour guide in Prague, it is still less overrated than the Mona Lisa (who knows who is right).

A delicious cinnamon twisty pastry thing (traditional in Hungry not Czech Republic, but sugary bread is sugary bread right?)

Angel holding what looks like above mentioned pastry, but it probably isn't.

I started this post with the intention of writing about Poland and Berlin as well, but Prague took longer than I thought and now I'm tired and cranky and need to go to bed before I drive Jacob crazy (if his is crazy then who will I get to do everything for me?). So Jacob will touch on Poland and Berlin in another post. Hopefully it will come soon since we are going to meet my family tomorrow. My mom isn't as cheap as we are and I'm sure we will have better wifi connection.

TTFN (ta ta for now)

Jessie and Jacob

Traveling while Pregnant - Munich and Vienna

As it was requested recently that we talk more about how Jessie is feeling, I’ll take a moment to do just that. Jessie has come up with a list of pros and cons of traveling while pregnant:

PRO – Walking a lot helps keep you from getting too fat.

CON – Walking a lot is hard.

CON – It can be hard to find free bathrooms in Europe, which is a problem for pregnant women with a little baby sitting on their bladders.

CON – Joint pain. Also makes walking harder.

CON – The excuse that you need 300 more calories a day makes it too easy to give in to that Gelato sometimes.

CON – Stretch marks. Not a big problem yet (or at all if you ask me), and not really a travel con, but Jessie is worried since she doesn’t have special Arbonne stuff with her this trip.

Ok, so it is more like a list of cons, but the general pros of being pregnant help to offset the travelling cons.

PRO – Baby kicks

PRO – Baby Center App gossip (sometimes TLC-esque drama train wrecks make you feel better about your life)

PRO – Baby names

PRO – Baby planning

CON – Baby… Baby… Baby. Ooh. (sorry)

So yeah, Jessie is doing well lately. =)

CON - Being pregnant makes it hard to outrun the giant, man-eating catfish of Muenchen

PRO - After the catfish spit her out, we got her some world-famous Sacher-Torte cake in Vienna

With that, it’s my job to tell you about the last two places we have visited: Muenchen (Munich), Germany, and Wien (Vienna), Austria.

We rode a fun compartment train (like the Hogwarts Express, for Jessie) into Muenchen from Venezia, and after our usual initial blunderings through the city's public transportation, made it to our airbnb host. Our host was great; very kind with a great personality, and he offered to take us on a little tour of Munich, which was great. On the subway ride to the city center, we had the privilege to listen to some of his stories about his family's experiences in World War II. His mother grew up during the war; he told us how his grandmother wouldn't allow his mom to join the DBM (the Hitler Youth for girls), even though all her friends were a part of it.

After his tour, we ate a lunch of sandwhiches and pretzels (German bread is amazing), and we joined another free walking tour through Munich. There is so much history in Munich. Not only was it an extremely important city in World War II, the starting point of Hitler's power in Germany, but the history goes back even further. It was founded around the 1100s, which was a somewhat late start compared to some of the other cities in that area. During the free walking tour, we heard stories of kings, architecture, and of course beer. Jessie's favorite story from the tour incorporates all three of these elements, and is recounted below:

King Ludwig I was king of Bavaria in the early-mid 1800s. He was the one that built the world-famous Hofbrauhaus, the establishment which allowed men of all classes, whether peasants or kings, to come together to drink as long as they could afford a beer. His father, Maximilian I, commissioned the National Theater, which had an interesting and innovative anti-fire system. The dome on the roof was inverted, like a cup, in order to catch rain-water. This water was then routed through pipes in the ceilings which could be opened in case of a fire, which was a common occurrence at the time considering the special effects of the day. During a play in the winter, a fire of course broke out. While the majority of people inside began to panic, the stage manager knew how to operate the fancy sprinkler system that had been tested only a few months prior. He turned the wheel and opened the sprinklers. But nothing happened. By then he began to panic as well, as he continued turning the wheel with continued failure.

The pipes had of course frozen, and so the fire raged. In desperation, the stage manager thought about what kind of liquid they had in abundance with which to quench the flames. It just so happened that the King's Hofbrauhaus was just down the road, and so the manager ran down and explained the situation to the bartender. In a heroic example of community support, all the patrons of the bar and the theatre created a line of men from the bar to the theatre, and began passing barrels of beer up the road to be thrown on the fire.

It was thirsty, work, of course. And somewhere along the line, someone thought it might be a good idea to lessen the load for the next guy by taking a free sip out of the barrels. He wasn't the only one with this idea, and so the barrels were empty by the time they reached the theatre. The tour guide was amused at what the last man in the line must have thought, throwing empty wooden barrels on the fire. ("I don't know how this is helping, but keep 'em coming!") The next morning, the king rode in to town, and found a long line of passed out men leading from the now-empty King's Haufbrauhaus all the way to what was left of the King's Theatre. Imagine his dismay! He raised the money to fix the theatre by placing a tax on beer (a tenth of a cent increase in the price), which allowed him to rebuild in a year. The fund-raising worked so well, he decided to increase the tax once more just to make more money. Upon which the people revolted and removed him from the throne in favor of his insane brother, Otto. Don't mess with Bavarians' beer, even if they burn down your play house.

Jessie in the train compartment

Mary statue from the Marienplatz, between the domes of Frauenkirche

The King's Hofbrauhaus

The King's National Theatre, with a statue of Max I

Augustiner Beer (not bad as far as beers go) and a Pretzel!

Delicious dinner - Bratwurst and Sauerkraut, Pretzels, and Augustiner Cream Soup

Our first experience with couchsurfing was in Vienna. It actually wasn't too hard finding the place, and our host was gone the entire weekend, so we had the place to ourselves. We couldn't find any free tours in Vienna, so we found a self-guided walk through the city. We spent one of our days exploring the grounds and gardens of Schoenbrunn Palace. We ate some Wiener Schnitzel, Kebap Sandwhiches, and Sacher Chocolate Cake during our time there. Vienna Staadsoper, the opera house, broadcasts live and for free each performance to anyone who wants to sit and watch outside. Jessie and I took advantage of this both nights we were there, although since we didn't understand what was happening we never stayed for the entire performance. We did get to see some of Wagner's famous "Die Walkure," best know for the "Ride of the Valkyries." So pretty cool.

Mozart Monument

Schoenbrunn

Haydn Monument (Mozart's classical music buddy)

Part of the Monument against War and Fascism (not including the old guy)

Such a fancy box for fancy famous chocolate cake

FREE OPERA

That's what we've been up to. Now we're in Prague for a day, and then we're heading to Poland. We're nearing the end of our trip. O.o Keep us in your prayers, as we do for you each day. We look forward to seeing everyone again when we get back!

And that's us.

~Jacob and Jessie

Finishing up Italy: Rome and Venice

So Jacob has already told the highlight of our Rome trip (and probably the trip as a whole, if not the highlight of our whole lives), but there are a few more things that we did in Rome that are worth mentioning. We met Erin Kochivar (a friend from church who is studying at a seminary in Rome for those who don't know) on the same day that we had our audience with the Pope. He took us to a cool little park that had a fantastic view of Rome. We spent the next day exploring the Roman Forum, Palatine Hill, and the Colosseum. All together we really had a nice time in Rome. Below are some pictures of notable events.

Jacob thought this angel looked like it had a selfie-stick like the ones they were selling on the streets. I thought it was the sponge that was offered to Christ on the cross; close enough right?

The Trevi Fountain was under construction. Gar!!

Ceiling of the Pantheon, pretty cool.

Men in black.

Alter at St. Peters

Selfie in front of the Colosseum (not with a selfie-stick)

After Rome, we arrived in Venice. Venice is really a city like no other. According to the girl who lead us on a free tour around the city, it was actually a group of 118 muddy islands before the Romans came and decided to make a city there. There is so much water and so many narrow streets completely surrounded by tall old buildings. It was just a really cool place to be.

While in Venice we visited the Saint Mark's square (the main tourist stop), went to mass at the cathedral there, took some pictures, and Jacob got attacked by birds. Jacob was taking lots of pictures because there is a Pokemon movie that apparently uses Venice and Saint Mark's square in particular, as inspiration for its setting.

The ceiling in St. Mark's cathedral was completely gold, either paint of leaf, we couldn't tell.

We were walking through a large gathering of pigeons when a street seller shoved from little dried pasta bits into Jacob's hands. The birds surrounded him then. They started landing on his hand and arms. I was freaking out (they are like rats with wings, gross!), but managed to get a picture or two. They guy then asked for money, which we didn't give him because 1. we didn't ask for pasta to feed the birds, and 2. because we weren't going to pay him for letting vermin climb all over Jacob and possibly give him all kinds of nasty diseases. But the picture is kind of cool anyhow.

He kind of looks like St. Francis; "let the disease-ridden birds come to me"

Some other highlights from Venice included seeing the most beautiful book store in the world and climbing a staircase of books, visiting the old Jewish ghetto and taking a guided tour of some synagogues, and eating some of best pasta we've ever had.

This book shop keeps all of its books in boats and bathtubs so they don't have to close down their store when the city floods in the winter.

Staircase made of books which had been ruined in a past flood

Jacob had to wear a Yarmulke when we went into all the synagogues

Handmade pasta with bits of extremely tender and flavorful veal, need I say more?

We also spent a lot of time just wondering the city and taking pictures of so many beautiful things. Here are just a few.

The gondola's bow is actually packed with symbolism for Venice. For example, it's entire swerve-y shape is the same shape as Grand Canal.

We also will be taking home a Venetian mask as a souvenir. The guide on the free tour told us the story about why Venice is famous for masks and we really liked it. Many people think that the masks are famous because of the Carnival festival they have every year, but this is not the case. In fact Venice started the Carnival festivities because of the masks they had to begin with. In the medieval times members of the wealthy class and aristocracy were known by face and name like celebrities. Because of this, if they were seen doing anything socially questionable they would cause scandal. Someone from this upper class decided that he would just wear a mask, a black cape, and hat whenever he was doing something questionable so that no one would know who he was. This idea spread like wildfire among the aristocracy and soon everyone was wearing masks. Sometimes it would be because they were doing something that would have caused scandal, but sometimes they wore a mask just because they didn't want to be bothered. After years of this tradition of mask wearing, the city decided to start the festival of Carnival to celebrate social equality. When everyone is wearing a mask, everyone is equal. Under the mask and cape you could be a king or just a humble laborer. It was cause to treat everyone with respect.

Because of this cool story and the fact that the masks look really cool, we bought one to bring home. Sometimes it will hang on our wall and we will bring it down to wear for renaissance festivals and Halloween festivities. It's pretty darn cool.

This is not the mask we bought, but it was this shape and mostly white (more traditional) with a little gold.

We are in Munich now and will be heading to Vienna next. Jacob will hopefully write a quick post about our adventures in those cities soon.

Ciao!
Jessie and Jacob